Adam WalkerFlute / BBT
Fellowship Winner
2010

I was completely thrilled and honoured to be given a BBT Fellowship in 2010. To receive this kind of support is very special. It came at such a perfect time when I had just graduated and started as principal flute of the LSO and has made possible projects that I had only dreamed about before. To have the wealth of experience BBT brings is a privilege and I am very excited about the process of commissioning a concerto and recording.

Adam Walker"

In 2009, at the age of 21, Adam Walker was appointed principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra and received the ‘Outstanding Young Artist Award’ at the MIDEM Classique Awards in Cannes. He went on to win a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award and was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Outstanding Young Artist Award. As a soloist Adam has appeared with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Solistes Européens, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras at venues including the Barbican, Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie Luxembourg and Bridgewater Hall. In 2011 he gave the world premiere of Brett Dean’s Concerto The Siduri Dances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and in 2013 returns to perform the Otaka Concerto and Bernstein’s Halil. Engagements during 2013/14 include the premiere of a concerto by Kevin Puts at the Cabrillo Festival, and the premiere of a Flute Concerto by Huw Watkins with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding at the Barbican. In 2013 he returned to Wigmore Hall with pianist James Baillieu and guitarist Morgan Szymanski and released his first CD entitled Vocalise on the Opus Arte label. Previous concert appearances include LSO St. Lukes (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), City of London Festival, Varese (Italy) and Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern. He has collaborated with pianist Angela Hewitt, singer Bernarda Fink and composer George Benjamin at Wigmore Hall and continues to appear as guest principal with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Adam Walker was a YCAT artist between 2007-2013.

"Walker, playing with staggering virtuosity and charm, kept the audience on the edge of their seats throughout, and brought the house down at the end."Tim Ashley, The Guardian 26 February 2014

"Adam Walker's playing was miraculous, his tone shifting imperceptibly from seductive roundness to an edgy astringency and adding layers of nuance to Watkins's already thoroughly imagined, translucent writing. Walker literally breathed character into the music, with an effortless, assured virtuosity that played games to great effect with the orchestra, and with Daniel Harding superb in his control of balance and attack."Classical Source 25 February 2014

"Walker had as many notes to play as the rest of the orchestra put together, and his non-stop stream of birdsong was presented with a virtuosity which was discreet rather than showy (no flamboyant flutter-tonguing, or shakuhachi effects)."Michael Church, The Independent 24 February 2014

"Adam Walker seemed up for every challenge thrown at him. The opening veered between agitation and calm, cascades of obsessive repetition giving way to something more lyrical. Then came a movement of soulful rhapsody, Walker’s flute calling out longingly, the rest of the orchestra responding in kind... Flute-players may end up being grateful for the way that this new concerto expands their repertoire." Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard, 24 Feb 2014

BBT Project: Vocalise CD with James Baillieu on Opus Arte

"He is a superb player, with a tone that is slightly cool, and there is much delicacy of nuance in his phrasing...the programme could not be more enticing. Poulenc’s Flute Sonata has one of those exquisite, unforgettable cantilena slow movements, and it is played here quite magically. The work then ends with a delicious Presto giocoso which rgings stunnign virtuosity from Adam Walker… James Baillieu provides accompaniments with just the right degree of often gentle support, balanced with the flute to perfection."Ivan March, Gramophone July 2013

Vocalise

Poulenc: Flute Sonata (1st movement)

Bartok: Suite paysanne hongroise (excerpt)

Barber: Canzone

Song and the human voice is the inspiration for this debut recital CD for Adam Walker supported by BBT pianist James Baillieu. Adam Walker’s BBT award has enabled him to record this CD and also to commission a flute concerto from Huw Watkins, to be premiered with co-commissioner LSO conducted by Daniel Harding on 23 February 2014.

Huw Watkins Flute Concerto

Huw Watkins’ Flute Concerto for Adam Walker was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust commission along with the London Symphony Orchestra, Fidelio Charitable Trust and Walker Watkins Consortium. Watkins always had Walker’s "amazing sound and control of his instrument" in mind during the composition process and fashioned a mercurial, scintillating score in three movements for him, which was given its world premiere on 23 February 2014 at the Barbican Hall, London, with Daniel Harding conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (with whom Walker is principal flute).

Adam Walker fluteBBC National Orchestra of WalesDuncan Ward conductor

Live recording from the 2014 Vale of Glamorgan Festival (14 May 2014)Courtesy of BBC | www.bbc.co.uk/bbcnow

Supported by Borletti-Buitoni Trust

VOCALISED TALENT

Adam Walker in profile

"He sings with his flute" is how pianist James Baillieu sums up Adam Walker. In this film he modestly talks about his journey from innately talented nine-year-old at Chetham’s School of Music to principal flute at London Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21. His BBT award has enabled him to record his first recital CD – Vocalise on the Opus Arte label with pianist Baillieu, released April 2013 – and also commission a new flute concerto from the much admired composer Huw Watkins, to be premiered with co-commissioner LSO, conducted by Daniel Harding, on 23 February 2014.